Just a note to congratulate HSJ on its prescience in publishing an article of mine ('Weight watchers', 1996 106(5501), 28-30) which predated by 11 years the current concern of health secretary Alan Johnson and junior health minister Lord Darzi about the shortage of GPs in poor health areas, writes John Hacking.

(However, additional claims of prescience of another currently 'hot' issue relating to the title would probably not be justified, the 'weight' in the pun referring to statistical weighting of populations for health needs in the article!)

John Hacking is senior research officer at the Manchester Joint Health Unit.